05.25.17: My heads hurt

I RECENTLYcame across a newspaper that used the three headline typefaces above throughout the entire issue.

Americana is very wide and its look is dated. Tahoma Bold is very strong, but it was designed as a system font for Microsost Windows and later distributed with Apple computers. Rockwell Italic is…well…just plain ugly.

The three typefaces clash with each other, each calling attention to itself in its own way. It’s like listening to an orchestra when the brass section is playing Mozart, the woodwinds playing Brahms and the violins playing Stravinsky—all at the same time.

A better way to do it: Choose a headline typeface family with fonts that go well with each other. The example I’ve given below is in New Baskerville, but there are hundreds of good type families that will do the job.

There’s Bell…Benton…Bodoni…Caslon…Concorde…Ellington…Garamond…Goudy…Kepler…Miller…Photina… Well, you get the idea.